Food Truck Ordinance Introduced in Chicago

Here at Serious Eats, we love street food. We're especially keen when that street food goes mobile, and is served from a tricked out truck. Many major cities are becoming known for their food truck culture, but until now Chicago has been left out of the pack. Hopefully, that's about to change.

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribunereported that two City Council members introduced the city's first food truck ordinance. It was immediately sent to committee, to be considered for passage at a later date. The ordinance sets out standard regulations such as health and safety issues and licensing fees. It also includes a clause that does not permit trucks to be parked within 100 feet of a restaurant, or 200 feet of another vendor offering a similar service.

Now, we wait. Chicago chef Matt Maroni has been a big advocate for the food truck cause, and is cautiously optimistic about the ordinance's future in Council hearings. "Best-case scenario, it'll take effect in November or December," he said, "which means we'll have a slew of them next year." One can only hope!

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About the Author

Leah loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. For Serious Eats, she primarily covers food policy and writes reviews of food-related books. Her other work can be found at her website.